Google Maps gets a bugfix update

Aside from the other updates Google has been making available, they've also set everyone up with a new version of Google Goggles, bringing the app up to version 1.7. In this version, they've add some new features to make the experience better:

Continuous Mode allows you to use Goggles without pressing the shutter button

Goggles can recognize text in a document and return a link to its online version. Try it on your favorite newspaper!

You can help Goggles recognize more objects. Tap on 'Do you have a better suggestion' in the Goggles results page.

Google Goggles will now show user submitted results in the search results page.

The continuous mode should be a great addition for anyone who uses Google Goggles a lot and the text recognition is just awesome, try it out for yourself -- pretty impressive! You'll find the download link past the break.

Sony Ericsson also tells how it's handling Ice Cream Sandwich

Two manufacturers explaining the upgrade path to Ice Cream Sandwich on the same day? It's gotta be a coincidence, right? Anyhoo, Sony Ericsson -- hot on the heels of Motorola's own post -- has explained in great detail on its developer blog what all goes into updating its devices to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

It's a pretty interesting read (if a little long) and gives a great look at everything that has to happen while the rest of us are setting our hair on fire impatiently waiting on updates. Give it a read.

Enter to win an iBOLT Charging Dock for the HTC Rezound!

Tis the season for travel, and if you're doing it by car, you're definitely going to want to look into a car dock to keep your device charged up and easily accessible. Of course, the Android Central store has tons of awesome car mounts and kits, so make sure you check them out before you head out on the road.

As a special gift for all you new HTC Rezound owners, we have 10 iBOLT Charging Docks for the Rezound to give away, courtesy of ShopAndroid.com. To enter, leave comment in the thread at the link below telling us why you want the dock or how you'll use it to make your travel or commute easier. The contest will run through Sunday and we'll pick two winners from each day, so get your entries in!

Motorola explains what all it has to do before you get an Ice Cream Sandwich update

Motorola Mobility, on its blog, has done a great piece explaining the steps it has to take before releasing any upgrades to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. That includes getting the source code, merging it with its existing frameworks, bug-testing, getting carrier certification, doing an initial pre-release with some of us in the real world (those are those "soak tests" we hear about) and, finally, releasing the upgrade. No small feat, to be sure.

We've gotten a ton of tips from Verizon employees this morning saying that the unofficially official -- and very much not publicly announced -- Dec. 9 launch date for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus has been scrapped for an unannounced reason.

We've talked with a Verizon spokesperson who reiterated that no official launch date announcement has been made. So, yeah.

Sprint Epic Touch 4G OTA update rolling out now

Late last month we caught word of an upcoming OTA update for the Sprint Epic Touch 4G, and reports are now that it is rolling out. The update fixes the radio signal loss and the 4G hotspot disconnect during phone calls, which is a huge relief to many of you. If you haven't received a notification for the update yet be sure to hop into your system settings and manually check for an update.

As we all know the BlackBerry PlayBook (which just got rooted and can now access the Android market) will be receiving a large update in February 2012, which will add an Android App Player to it. Many wondered how many applications would be initially available for downloading, and it seems as though the folks at Handster will be putting forth quite some effort on this.

Our good friends at CrackBerry.com received an e-mail that said the folks at Handster will be doing the work for the Android developers, converting their applications, submitting them, etc and all the developer needs to do is supply them with a properly sized App World icon. In fact, its been suggested over 7,000 Android apps have been in testing on RIM employee PlayBooks for quite some time now. While all the questions have yet to be answered about the service, this is definitely a great starting place for getting Android applications on the BlackBerry PlayBook.

SoundTracking for Android is now available

SoundTracking, an iOS user favorite that impressed our friends over at TiPb, is now available on Android. SoundTracking is reminiscent of Foursquare for music: ID a song you're listening to or that is playing in the distance and SoundTracking will tag it and share it via Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare. You can add your own photo and your current location to the tag, which will then be available for a 30-second preview to your friends. Your tags can even be played on Spotify and Rdio by anyone you share with. You can download SoundTracking for free from Android Market at the link below, or at the source link.

Blackberry Playbook root allowing Android Market access

The Android love affair with the Blackberry Playbook continues, as the latest to come from the Dingleberry rooting exploit is full access to the Android Market.

RIM have as expected, quickly issued a patch to repair the exploit used in Dingleberry (which has since been rooted again) but it is noted that the patch isn't available in the Playbook OS 2.0 beta at this time.

If you picked up a Playbook in the recent sales and want to see some Android love on it, full instructions are after the break. For more on the Playbook and the Dingleberry exploit don't forget to check out our sister site, Crackberry.com

A close-up look at the Verizon Galaxy Nexus extended battery

Here's a great look at the Verizon Galaxy Nexus extended battery that should be available at launch this week, courtesy of forums member reflekt2099. It's not a huge boost in available juice at 2100 mAh -- about 13 percent -- but with an LTE radio tucked inside, we'll take whatever we can get.

And unsurprisingly, the battery cover appears to be just a tad thicker than the one we've got on our GSM Galaxy Nexus. (If it wasn't, they obviously wouldn't have included a new battery cover.) Accessory compatibility's a big question here, but we've got a feeling this exetended battery and cover will just squeeze in.

This just came in through the Android Central app, and it lets us know that the Verizon Unicorn Galaxy Nexus should be arriving in select Radio Shack locations "this week". The pricing will be $299.99 on a new plan or an upgrade, and a whopping $799.99 unactivated and off-contract. Visual merchandising (a.k.a. in-store posters and other advertising material) can be displayed Thursday, Dec. 8, and it's likely that the phones will be available for sale if they've arrived in the store by then. As we can barely make out on the last line, the Galaxy Nexus will be replacing the Samsung Droid Charge on the shelves at Radio Shack, which originally sold for $299.99 as well. We're getting there folks, two more days.

It's been just over a month since we got our first glimpse of Sony Ericsson's next big thing, the Xperia Arc HD (previously known by its codename, "Nozomi"). Today a new photo has emerged of the device, which is reportedly going through carrier testing in Hong Kong. Despite sections of the phone being strategically blurred out, you can clearly see that the Xperia UI has undergone a bit of a facelift, and that the chassis seems to be incredibly thin, just like its predecessors. Some mystery still surrounds the purpose of the glowing section at the bottom of the device though -- as we've seen in the earlier shots, it seems to extend all the way around the shell.

Chinese blog Techorz, the source of the leak, claims an unveiling at CES in early January is on the cards, which wouldn't surprise us considering that's where we first saw the original Arc almost a year ago. As for rumored specs, the site reports exactly what we've heard elsewhere -- a 1.5 GHz dual-core CPU inside, with 1GB of RAM, a 4.3-inch, 720p display and a whopping 12MP camera, presumably sporting Sony's Exmor R tech. Crucially, though, there's no mention of which version of Android is powering the Arc HD at present. Last time we saw it, it was rocking Android 2.3.5, though if it does launch with Gingerbread we'd expect a relatively speedy upgrade to ICS.

Fingers crossed, hopefully we'll be getting our hands on this beast sooner rather than later.